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Thoughts on the SAP upgrade seminar in Melbourne

by Scott Priest, Managing Editor

September 21, 2010

I spent last week in Melbourne, Australia, working at the SAP ERP Upgrades and Enhancement Packages seminar.

There were 60 SAP users in attendance, ranging from developers to functional users and managers. Most were from Melbourne, but we had others from Northern Australia and even a handful that flew in from New Zealand.

The seminar featured four speakers, all veterans of other SAP Insider conferences and seminars: SAP America's Lon Blake, nimbl's Michael Pytel, CSC's Doug Whiting, and Symmetry Corporation's Dan Wilhelms. They covered quite a bit of material in three days -- 12 sessions ranging on topics from managing the upgrade project to justifying it from a business standpoint to the technical architecture and deep dives into configuration.

What stood out to me at the seminar in Australia was how much the attendees enjoyed networking. With so much information in such a short time, breaks were at a premium, but as I walked around during the breaks I noticed people sharing experiences and asking questions of each other, and more specific follow-up questions to our experts. They really took advantage of where they were and gained knowledge even surpassing what was in the presentations.

The seminar was a great success, and also allowed me to see a great city. Should you get a chance to go there some time, make sure you go to St. Ali for siphon coffee, the Eureka Skydeck for a crazy view at night, and a ride along the Great Ocean Rd. for the scenery, temperate rainforest, and koalas.

The seminar had already been to two locations before Melbourne and is visiting three more great destinations this year -- Chicago, Las Vegas, and Amsterdam. For more, visit the website here.

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